No, Soriano is the last thing we need - another Adam Jones, JJ Hardy type with no plate discipline, who doesn't get on base, and provides some pop. We have plenty of pop. We need guys to get on base. Duquette is apparently looking for SP and 1B. I love Jake Peavy, I'd love to see him in an Orioles uniform. As far as first base goes, we need a guy who can get on base consistently with just enough pop to be a threat in the middle of the order. I honestly think Youkilis would be a great fit. He's also supposed to be an excellent clubhouse guy. Do I love the idea of signing him? No. For whatever reason, I always really disliked him with the Sox and the more differenter Sox. But I actually think he would be the best possible option for the team. Lance Berkman could be a good fit, too, but I'm really worried he'll fall off a cliff, and Youk I trust to continue to produce this year and for several more after. He's only 33 - old, but not ancient.

I know it's extremely unconventional, but I'd like to see the O's re-sign McLouth and ask him to spend a little time this winter seeing how he does at second base. He's a very athletic defender with good instincts and reactions, I think there's a very good chance he could be successful in the infield. Technically we have to assume there's a non-zero chance of Brian Roberts being healthy next year, and in multiple radio interviews Duquette has expressed that the team views B-Rob as the second baseman for 2013. But realistically, we all know we need a contingency plan, and it's an extremely likely contingency. Duquette has implied that Flaherty is the next guy in line to start at second next year. McLouth and Reimold are probably both better hitters. At least it would offer some additional flexibility to cover injuries from both of our extremely injury-prone position players. If he doesn't take to it you don't lose anything by having him try.

O's bring home three trophies tonight. Wieters wins his second in a row, cementing his status as the best defensive catcher in the game. Hardy wins a much deserved first GG, and Jones backdoors his way to one. Trout was robbed - my only guess is that Jones playing all 162 games (33 more than Trout) swayed votes in his favour.

Posted by Jtpsops on 10/30/2012 10:53:00 PM (view original):O's bring home three trophies tonight. Wieters wins his second in a row, cementing his status as the best defensive catcher in the game. Hardy wins a much deserved first GG, and Jones backdoors his way to one. Trout was robbed - my only guess is that Jones playing all 162 games (33 more than Trout) swayed votes in his favour.

Best defensive catcher in the game? I guess Yadier Molina retired and I missed it. If you would have said "one of the" in front of that, I wouldn't have even bothered posting here...

Jtp, have you actually WATCHED any Cardinals games? I've watched quite a few, and I would say that Yadier is probably the best defensive catcher in the history of the game. Wieters is head and shoulders ahead of any other catcher in baseball NOT named Yadier Molina, but he is clearly not as good a defender as Molina is right now. As I said, I don't think ANYONE has EVER been as good as Yadier Molina is right now. Not Bench, not Pudge, not anybody.

Jones winning was a joke. I can name 6 or 7 guys in the AL who deserved it more in 30 seconds. De Aza, Trout, Saunders, Jackson, Span, Crisp off the top of my head. Jones made 8 errors, which is a ton for an outfielder. Also at least a dozen more plays any center fielder should have made but due to bad jumps he didn't even get close enough to the balls to be credited with errors.

Hardy probably wouldn't have gotten my vote, but he's very deserving. Only has average to slightly-above-average range, but he does a great job of positioning and makes every play that he's supposed to make.

As for Jones, I heard a very interesting argument today that I hadn't considered. Trout was often moved to LF late in games and replaced in CF by Peter Bourjos. That may have caused voters to think twice - if a guy is a GG CF, why is he being defensively replaced.

I still think Trout should have won, but it is definitely an interesting point. Jones also played every game, which I'm sure worked in his favour. Trout should have gotten the votes though.

I don't see why you can't put anyone other than Trout or Jones in the mix? What about some of the other guys I mentioned? In particular Denard Span and Alejandro De Aza, who I think were both better than Trout or Jones this year.

Posted by Jtpsops on 10/31/2012 6:28:00 PM (view original):As for Jones, I heard a very interesting argument today that I hadn't considered. Trout was often moved to LF late in games and replaced in CF by Peter Bourjos. That may have caused voters to think twice - if a guy is a GG CF, why is he being defensively replaced.

I still think Trout should have won, but it is definitely an interesting point. Jones also played every game, which I'm sure worked in his favour. Trout should have gotten the votes though.

Bourjos is probably the best center fielder in the league. He just can't hit enough to start, so he's just used for pinch running/defensive replacement. Bourjos isn't in the game enough to save enough runs in center. Trout is probably the best center fielder that starts. In the Fielding Bible voting, Trout was first and Adam Jones was 17th.